Category Archives: Television

Ryan Murphy discusses how ‘Glee’ will handle upcoming Finn Hudson tribute episode

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When Glee returns this fall it will do so without one of its biggest stars, Cory Monteith. The actor who played Finn Hudson on the FOX musical dramedy passed away last month due to a drug overdose. As Gleeks worldwide continue to mourn the young actor’s death, the producers behind the mega-successful series are hard at work on making a special episode that will address the character’s death. In an interview with Deadline, series executive producer Ryan Murphy shed some light on what viewers can expect. Following a Beatles tribute that spans across the season four premiere and second episode, Glee will say goodbye to Finn in the season’s third hour that will play as “a celebration of that character’s life,” says Murphy. Finn, in fact, will not die of a drug overdose in the show, and viewers may not even be privy to how he ends up passing away. Jump after the break to read the EP’s take on the upcoming tribute episode.

Glee returns September 26 on FOX. Continue reading Ryan Murphy discusses how ‘Glee’ will handle upcoming Finn Hudson tribute episode →

My take on ‘Orphan Black’

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It’s safe; you are now entering a spoiler-free zone.

Orphan Black is easily one of my favorites series of all time. There, mhm, I said it.

The sci-fi-tastic plot; the small yet distinguished cast of characters you care about; the score; cinematography. All brilliant.

Tatiana Maslany. Her nuanced skill is mesmerizing. Sarah, Alison, Cosima & Helena were seemingly played by different actors. She rocks.

Shouts to Jordan Gavaris (Felix) for bringing laughs and heart to the table. And to Skyler Wexler (Kira) for being so freakin adorable.

Gotta throw this in: I really, really enjoyed the thrilling score throughout. My favorite is the loud streaks for Helena’s theme.

Most of all, what made this series so much fun to watch: the pacing. 10 episodes, all plot momentum & character development, no fluff.

So much went down & there are still mysteries left dangling. Cannot wait to see what’s next when season 2 premieres April 2014.

Side thoughts

Orphan Black brings up a bold point: I’d prefer a shortened season (10-13 episodes) full of momentum & zero filler to a “full” 22-24 episode run. Cable networks are keen on tighter storytelling, and even some broadcast nets are getting in with “limited” series & runs. Color me curious for the future of scripted TV.

TV reminder: ‘Breaking Bad’ returns

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Here we go. The final 8. After four and a half seasons of White White breaking bad, how will it all end?

In an interview with EW, Breaking Bad creator and mastermind Vince Gilligan shares what fans can expect. “As the movie title goes, there will be blood. To my mind, that’s not the most interesting thing. It’s the emotional moments and the character moments. We’ve got some stuff that I think is going to be truly satisfying and truly shocking and jarring. It does not always center on moments of violence…I have surprised myself at how much story there was left to tell and how quickly we tell it. You need to really settle down on the couch and pay close attention because it’s going to come at you fast and furious in the final eight episodes.”

On many occasions, without spoiling a thing, Gilligan has assured people that he and his writing staff are wholly satisfied by the ending. And although this statement may not completely quell your fears about how the series will wrap up, it sets my mind at relative ease because Gilligan has proved time and again that he can be trusted in terms of sheer storytelling.

In the end, Breaking Bad has been about a mild-mannered chemistry teacher afflicted with cancer transforming into a deadly drug kingpin; the protagonist becoming the antagonist. Gilligan has publicly stated that at some point he completely lost sympathy for Walter White. Whether or not you are still cheering for him, you will witness the remainder of his journey to the dark side as the final run of eight episodes begins Sunday, August 11 at 9PM.

Three things: One, a Breaking Bad after-show called Talking Bad hosted by Chris Hardwick will air after every episode. Two, Discovery Channel is airing a special edition of Mythbusters inspired by Breaking Bad where the hosts will test myths straight from the AMC series; it premieres Monday, August 12 at 10PM. And three, videos! Jump after the break to watch new promos, a recap, a gag reel, and sneak peeks at the Mythbusters-meets-Breaking Bad installment. Continue reading TV reminder: ‘Breaking Bad’ returns →

‘Homeland’ season 3 gets a somber full-length trailer

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Have you been itching to find out what happens next on Showtime’s award-winning Homeland? Here is your first look at the drama’s highly anticipated third season. Carrie is depressed (again), Brody is back sporting a whole new look, Saul is heavily involved with senate hearings following the CIA bombing, Quinn is playing with fire(arms), and Dana makes a bad decision (again) but also surprises with one major revelation revealed. The trailer, set to The Cinematic Orchestra’s “To Build a Home,” is somber in its own right and sets that tone for the season.

Homeland returns September 29.

‘American Horror Story: Coven’ drops two creep-tastic teasers

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The third season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story is coming soon and you know what that means: freaky teasers that are brief yet mesmerizing in their mystery are being released into the wild.

After exploring a murder house and an asylum, AHS: Coven takes us to New Orleans where we’ll witness a battle between Salem witches and voodoo practitioners. As it likes to do, the show will take place in present day as well as flashback to the past–in this case the 1830s. At the summer TCAs, EP Tim Minear shed some light on Coven‘s themes:

“Some of the bigger themes this year are oppression of minorities of all kinds, and within that idea, minority groups going after each other and doing the work of the larger culture. While there is a strong feminist theme that runs throughout Coven, there are themes of race and themes of oppression, and themes of family–especially mothers and daughters.”

Familiar AHS faces take on new characters in the upcoming season. Jessica Lange is a witch named Fiona and Sarah Paulsen is her daughter Cordelia. Newcomers Angelia Bassett and Kathy Bates play voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau and New Orleans socialite and serial killer Madame LaLaurie, respectively. Rounding out the cast are veterans Evan Peters, Lilly Rabe, Francis Conroy, Taissa Farmiga, Denis O’Hare, and Alexandra Breckenridge and newbies Gabourey Sidibe, Emma Roberts, and Patti LuPone.

The first teaser titled “Detention” has numerous women levitating up against white walls as an eerie rendition of “The House of the Rising Sun” plays in the background. (Anyone notice the legs in the fireplace?) After the break, watch the second teaser called “Pins & Needles” and prepare yourself for a nice little scare.

AHS: Coven premieres on FX this October.

Update (8/15): A third called “Staircase” is here, below. Continue reading ‘American Horror Story: Coven’ drops two creep-tastic teasers →

‘Phineas and Ferb’ crossover events with Marvel & ‘Star Wars’ coming soon

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Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk are teaming up with boy-geniuses Phineas and Ferb in a special Disney/Marvel crossover episode airing later this month. The official episode description goes like this:

In Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk stand powerless after being struck by Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s power-draining “inator.” Once the Marvel Super Villains – Red Skull, Whiplash, Venom and M.O.D.O.K. – find out that Dr. Doofenshmirtz is responsible for robbing the Super Heroes of their powers, they seek him out and together create mayhem in Danville. Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb do everything they can to restore the Super Heroes’ powers before the evil villains take over the world.

If you’re a big fan of Disney’s addicting and mildly sophisticated ‘toon about step-brothers with wild imaginations and Stan Lee’s superheroes, then you’ll definitely want to set your DVRs for Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel set to debut on Disney Channel Friday, August 16 at 8PM. Jump after the break to watch a preview and trailer for the upcoming crossover event.

In other P&F news, the animated series is playing host to Star Wars in 2014; for more details, pop after the break! Continue reading ‘Phineas and Ferb’ crossover events with Marvel & ‘Star Wars’ coming soon →

Stephen Colbert gets Daft Punk’d, performs his star-studded rendition of “Get Lucky”

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This is too damn good so I’ll be brief. Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report had been hyping Daft Punk’s first live performance since their latest album Random Access Memories on his show. But then the French electronic duo cancelled their visit to the Report at the last minute due to contractual obligations with CC’s sister network MTV (they are both owned by media conglomerate Viacom). In a fit of anger and some booze, Colbert spilled to his audience what has supposed to be a surprise for VMA viewers: Daft Punk is scheduled to perform live at the MTV Video Music Awards later this month. It was the Report or the VMAs and Daft Punk chose the latter and legalese with MTV made it impossible for the artists to perform on Colbert’s stage, too.

Now that you have the story down pat, watch Colbert tell his side of the story in his entertaining way in the clip embedded above. And then, after the break, watch the host perform his very own rendition of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” with many, many surprise guests. It truly is a riot. Perhaps Daft Punk’s absence was a godsend because I doubt their live version of “Get Lucky” could ever best what Colbert put together here. Continue reading Stephen Colbert gets Daft Punk’d, performs his star-studded rendition of “Get Lucky” →

TV teasers: ‘Homeland’, ‘Breaking Bad’ & ‘Sherlock’

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Here we have three tantalizing TV teasers for fans of some of the hottest shows today: Showtime’s Homeland, AMC’s Breaking Bad, and BBC One/PBS’ Sherlock. Warning: spoilers within!

Above, the Homeland teaser titled “Signals” begs the question: Where is Brody? At the end of season 2, a car bomb destroyed the CIA and it was made to look like Nick Brody was behind the devastating attack. Carrie, of course, believes him when he says he didn’t do it and she helps him escape the country. “Does Carrie know I’m here” is just one of the many “signals” broadcast in this 30-second teaser that unfortunately shows zero footage from season 3. Homeland returns September 29.

After the break you’ll find the teasers for Breaking Bad and Sherlock. Continue reading TV teasers: ‘Homeland’, ‘Breaking Bad’ & ‘Sherlock’ →

CBS renews ‘Under The Dome’ for a second season

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Under The Dome is coming back for a 13-episode second season and Stephen King, the author whose 2009 novel the CBS drama series is based, will pen the premiere episode when it returns in Summer 2014.

CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler on the renewal: “We’re excited to tell more stories about the mystery of the dome and the secrets in Chester’s Mill, and are thrilled to have the master storyteller himself, Stephen King, tell the first one of next season.”

In all, 17.8 million total viewers tuned into the series premiere in June and the show also proved its worth in the adults 18-49 demo landing a 4.6 rating. Though those numbers have dropped since, they still remain elevated at a level strong enough to warrant a second season; the most recent episode attracted a sizable audience with 11.4 million viewers and a 2.8 rating in the coveted demo. The show is performing solidly internationally and on Amazon where CBS has an exclusive deal enabling Instant Video subscribers to stream episodes four days after they air. In fact, Dome is the most watched series ever on Amazon’s streaming service.

All in all, Under the Dome is proving to be great summer fare and it’s showing the other networks that scripted TV can work outside the traditional September-to-May window. (FOX enters the fray next summer with new drama Gang Related and the return of 24.) The show’s got some kinks to work out (the character Angie, for example, drives me up a wall with her terrible decisions…and what exactly are Junior’s motives?) and the pacing and character development need to be accelerated. But the overall mystery of the dome and the secrets being spilled inside it have me intrigued enough to want to see more. I gladly accept a series renewal.

Under The Dome airs Mondays at 10 on CBS.

Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe to depart ‘Parks And Rec’ this season

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This is literally the worst news for fans of NBC’s sitcom Parks And Rec: Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe are leaving the series this upcoming season. According to the show’s executive producer Mike Schur, their exit stems from no controversy; this is purely a creative decision to let them go. He released this statement to BuzzFeed explaining the situation head-on:

The news about Rob and Rashida is true — they will be leaving the show after the 13th episode of the upcoming season six. We’ve been working on their storyline (on and off) for four seasons now, and heading into this year, with the two of them contemplating parenthood, it felt like a natural time to move them into the next phase. 

We absolutely love both Rashida and Rob, and will be sad to see them go. Rashida was one of the very first people we knew we wanted in the cast, and as important as Ann is to Leslie (and vice-versa), she’ll certainly never be far from Pawnee. Rob we initially thought we could only have for six or eight episodes, and we couldn’t be happier that he will have stuck around for 75. 

They are wonderful, funny, committed actors, they’ve been a huge part of the Parks and Rec family, and we think we have a great Pawnee send-off in the works for them.

Schur shared additional details with EW: “The decision that they make that will see them transition off the show is made very early, so it’s a long fun kind of celebratory send-off. And it happens in the first episode after the premiere — the seeds start being planted. So it’s going to be a long crescendo and Leslie will go through a series of complicated highs and lows about what’s happening. For obvious reasons, it’s the main arc that plays out in the first half of the year…. They’re moving into a new phase of their lives and they have a lot of things to consider and they’re going to consider them, and then make a decision that leads to their [exit].”

So there you have it. The absolutely positive and lovable Chris Traeger and Leslie’s most ardent supporter and best friend Ann Perkins are departing Pawnee at the half-way point in season 5. The show with one of the greatest ensemble casts will carry on without them, of course, but that doesn’t mean they will be greatly missed. Try to imagine the scene where Leslie has to say goodbye to Ann, a character who’s been with the show since the shaky beginning; a tear-jerker is most definitely in the works.

Comic Con: ‘The Walking Dead’ sets the tone in 4 minute season 4 trailer

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The Walking Dead premiered a four-and-a-half minute trailer for its coming fourth season. Did you get that? Sitting right there above these words is a video that contains over four minutes of brand spankin’ new footage. Go on, mash play! I’ll be here when you’re finished.

Freakin’ awesome, huh? With more hands to help fresh off the bus from Woodbury, the prison is as fortified as ever and yet the zombies break in still. Looks like we have a mole, somebody who doesn’t want our heroes to survive. “We might be safer outside those walls,” says a suspicious Hershel. What’s really great about this extended trailer is that it manages to set the tone of the new season without spoiling the goods. So if that’s what you’re worried about, don’t be; this is a safe watch that successfully hypes what’s to come in terms of mood, not so much plot. I’m getting a watch-your-back, paranoia-type vibe here; what about you?

Now what was learned at the panel? First, The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 13 at 9PM followed by Talking Dead with host Chris Hardwick. Just like last season, this one will be split in two; eight episodes will air in the fall and after a hiatus AMC will air another eight starting in February 2014–16 eps in all.

Andrew Lincoln shared a change in his character that fans will notice in season 4. “The relationship with Carl is integral to the beginning of this season,” he said. “Carl turning into a sociopath at the end of last season definitely woke [Rick] up.” Rick will no longer serve as the leader of the group and we’ll find him “in a completely new place; he’s renounced a lot of his responsibilities for the sake of his children.”

And what of The Governor, who mysteriously does not appear in the trailer. “At the end of last season, he was in a very dark place—but he feels like they betrayed them and that’s just not going to go down with the Governor,” his portrayer David Morrissey said. “There was a switch in him, and now we see him dealing with what that switch is; what is it that makes that switch go down?”

Check out the Comic Con exclusive Walking Dead poster featuring Rick, Daryl, Tyrese, and Michonne after the jump. Continue reading Comic Con: ‘The Walking Dead’ sets the tone in 4 minute season 4 trailer →

Comic Con: Showrunner Eric Kripke opens up about a “better” ‘Revolution’ in season 2

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Are you a fan of spoilers? Well you found yourself in the right place if you took a seat at this year’s Revolution panel at Comic Con. Unlike most showrunners at the Con, Revolution‘s Eric Kripke did not hold back when it came to promoting season 2 of the NBC post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama. The panel started with this three minute preview of the new season which includes a boatload of new footage including a first-look at Stephen Collins (No Ordinary Family) as Rachel’s dad, Monroe’s fight club, Neville’s bad-ass beard, and–YIKES!–the death of Aaron Pittman?!

Kripke expanded on some of the screened footage. First of all, our heroes failed to stop the detonation of the nukes; Philly and Atlanta have been decimated. “We’re trying to be the first network show in history that loses two American cities in the first 15 seconds [of a season],” Kripke said. “We’re back to a very intense set of basics, [a world] that’s even more dangerous than in season one.” Furthermore, when Revolution returns the lights will be off again (apparently the consequence of flipping the switch only lasts so long) and a new foe will emerge. The “Patriots” that Randall was referring to before he shot himself in the finale and the “President” who is hiding out in Cuba–these are not good guys according to Kripke. “The idea was to create a villain this year that’s so bad and so insidious and whose tentacles go so far, that even our heroes and our villains ultimately have to band together to fight this threat. They’re using the iconography of stars and stripes and patroism, but they’re using it as a mask. If you were to look behind closed doors…you’ll see that they are really, really bad dudes up to some nefarious stuff.”

So Miles and Monroe and Neville and the rest of our main cast of heroes and villains will team up to fight the Patriots. And no longer will the series be about claiming power and the pendants and the tower; driving the story now will be digging into the characters more and unfolding the mystery behind the Patriots and their endgame.

“It’s always been a show about family and hope and love, and now they can all move towards each other and not just make it so obsessed about the power. I think you’ll see much more intimate digging into character,” said Kripke. “Let’s stop talking about the power and lets start talking about the world.” Later he summed up, “As good as [the show] was, it needs to be better…It was a lot of story about a light switch,” he admitted to some laughs. “I think we have, no question, a better Season 2 than Season 1.”